attention of "the new york times." a "new york times" sports writer, in fact, joe drape, a reporter, moved his family from new york city to smith center, kansas, and lived there for an entire school year to chronicle the team's achievements and to write about the community. he tells their story in his best-selling book called "our boys: a perfect season on the plains." there are many reasons for this team's success that would bring a "new york times" reporter to this small town, but i think the community of smith center would agree with me that perhaps the greatest reason behind their success is their head coach, coach roger barda. the coach's 323 victories place him among the top five coaches in all-time kansas football on the list of wins. and in 2007, he was named the gator-aid national coach of the year. but this season, after 35 years of coaching, coach barda announced he was ready to hang up his whistle and retire. i had the opportunity to participate in several pregame flips of the coin with coach barda and his